Restructuring at Sears will result in the closure of the Belleville call centre and cost 529 people their jobs.
Vincent Power, spokesman for Sears Canada, says the retail giant plans to cut 1, 345 jobs in total in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg Belleville and Vaughan.
These include 453 in the customer contract centre, and 76 in the logistics centre. Power says the reduction in local staff is part of a plan to out-source the call centre side of Sear’s retail operation.
Sears has also announced it has reached an outsourcing agreement with IBM. This means that English callers will be redirected to a call centre in the Philippines, while French callers will be redirected to a call centre in Europe.
